


The Flowing Path

by WriterOfSin



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gen, Minor Canonical Character(s), Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Post Book 4: Balance, Post-Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Post-Canon, Post-Finale, Post-Spirit World Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-28 03:02:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5075263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterOfSin/pseuds/WriterOfSin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the Avatar, her world has been a relatively sedate one in the last few years. Much has changed; the fragile Earth Empire has become a democracy after the United Republic's own heart, the Fire Nation and Water Tribes are co-operating, and the Air Nomads have made great strides in regaining their place in the world.</p><p>Peace is not eternal. All of those who share in the Avatar Cycle know that as order follows disorder, disorder must follow order. It is a cycle older than Raava and Vaatu, and will continue until the very stars burn out. Now the new epoch is upon the world as the Children of Wu Wei arrive, proclaiming themselves the true servants of harmonious balance in the world.</p><p>Can Korra prove their claim false, that the Avatar is no flaw in the natural order of life? Or will she be forever condemned to the history books along with all her predecessors?</p><p>My own effort at attempting a sequel to Book 4: Balance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Flowing Path

_It has been five years since the fall of the short-lived Earth Empire. Avatar Korra and her wife, Future Industries' own Asami Sato, have spent those years travelling the world, seeking to help those they can, wherever they can. The still-young Earth Confederacy is recovering well, the traditional distrust of outsiders slowly fading thanks to contact with the other nations, and Republic City has grown far beyond its original boundaries. The Fire Nation and the Water Tribes are working together to erase the Triads that stalk the sea-lanes, smuggling and preying on innocents for their living._

_All is not good in these turbulent years, however. A group known as the Children of Wu Wei have slowly emerged from the shadows. Again and again they've grown bolder, slandering the Avatar's every action, displaying their disdain for her and her supporters. In the last two months, it has grown to a fever pitch, as Korra receives word of something she's dreaded ever since the days of the Equalists; in the troubled Earth Confederacy, the great city of Omashu, still scarred from the legacy bestowed upon it by the unworthy leadership of the Earth Kingdom and Empire, has become a veritable font of discontented support for the Children._

_Suspicious of the group's motives and wary of its professed beliefs, will the Avatar's fears of the group taking the chance to pursue its own goals, no matter what the cost to the still-fragile peace, come true? Find out here!_

* * *

Some days, she was almost certain that sleep was an illusion. She'd rock and turn in her bed, trying desperately to find that one position that could drop her off into the deep, relaxing kind of sleep she needed at times like this. It was for no avail, of course. Far too many times, for far too many nights in far too many years, she'd ended up with times when her body demanded sleep and she just couldn't, her mind protesting the effort. Rich blue eyes stared up at the shadowed arch of the room's ceiling, heavy with bitterness. It was at times like this that Korra wished she could just use the meditation techniques Jinora had taught her, to relax her breathing, release the stress she put on her muscles, and just forget about the reasons why she felt like breaking something in half. White and gold flashed again behind her eyes, and she snarled at the memory. Damnit! Too loud, she knew, hanging her head in her hands as the blanket over her rustled as the other person in the bed woke up, cracking her own bleary green eyes open. "Kor? What's wrong?" Even despite her tiredness, Korra still feels a shiver tingling down her spine at the sound of Asami's voice. Her eyes drifted over the face of her wife, the woman she loved, and she smiled wanly at her messy hair, tendrils of it dangling over her face, so different from the poise Asami took care to display in public.

"Nothing, 'sami. Go back to sleep."

The other woman just yawned, a manicured hand slipping over her mouth. "No point now." Her eyes glittered in the dark as she looked back at Korra's own, a slight frown adorning her lips. "C'mon. You know you can tell me what's up."

"You know what it is," Korra snapped. "It's those idiot Children!" Instantly she regretted losing her tongue, seeing the startled look on her wife's face. "Eurgh...I'm sorry, 'sami. It's just, they make me so mad."

 

"Yeah, I could tell," Asami said dryly. "You had another run-in with some of their supporters today, didn't you?" Korra just nodded her head silently, not trusting herself to say anything else. "What happened?" probed her wife's gentle voice.

"I was coming back from the train station. There were reporters everywhere, asking me about the trip to Zaofu, what me and Suyin thought about Kuvira's transfer to the White Lotus' custody." Her voice was flat as she relieved the mind-numbing shouts of the reporters. She'd spent eight years having to put up with them, but time had done nothing to lessen her dislike of them or increase her tolerance of their stupid questions. "There was this one guy, he was just standing there at the back, not really saying anything, at least that I could hear. He lifted his hand up, and his voice just... _cut_...through everyone else's, like he was the only one talking."

Asami stared at her, a frown written on her face. "Well, what was it?"

Korra's head sunk, the twin plaits she'd adopted in place of the older wolftails dangling down the curve of her shoulders, her fingers kneading together in her hands. Her voice quivered with tension. "He asked if it was true that I was planning to move to Zaofu and 'abandon' Republic City like I'd done all those times before."

**...**

Her dark skin was flushed hot with anger at the question. "What? I've never abandoned the city before, and I won't be doing it now!"

"I beg your pardon, Avatar," his voice didn't show the slightest hint of apology, and neither did his face, "but you did let the Equalists take over the city. And then a few months later you chose to let your uncle's apparently possessed body ravage the city."

"I didn't _let_ anyo-"

The reporter shook a hand blithely, "If you didn't, why did it happen, Avatar? Why did dozens of people die at his hands before you arrived?" Her eyes shone coldly enough that the reporters nearest her all shuffled a step back, wary of the fact that they were in between an obviously angered Avatar and the source of their annoyance. "Then you chose to let four of the most dangerous criminals in the world wreak havoc, and instead of hunting them down, you decided to go scurrying away to find the airbenders that you're responsible for creating." She could feel her fingers crunching into the palms of her hands, grateful for the fact that no-one had noticed it yet. Spirits knew that there'd probably be someone in the crowd wanting a shot of that for their paper. "I don't think it's fair to be blaming me for-"

"Who else, Avatar Korra? Nobody forced you to keep the portals open. You said it yourself, remember?"

 

"And then Kuvira! Where were you?" He opened his mouth again, ready to spit another indictment of her no doubt, but a screech cut through the hubbub of the crowd and Korra spun, looking for the source.

"Thief! Thief! Help, that man's taken my purse!" Past the old lady's flailing arm, she could just make out the man's figure, all dressed in green and black, sprinting with a battered cloth-woven purse clutched under one arm, his other knocking people aside in his dash to anonymity and safety. Without a trace of hesitation she broke into a run, summoning gusts and flurries of wind to help her push and leap over the heads of those in the way.

"Stop!" He paid no heed, still running, a glance over his shoulder just spurring him to run even faster at the sight of the well-built woman pelting after him. "Don't make this any harder!" she shouted again, slamming herself to a sudden stop and rocking her hands out to either side, ready to flick up a pillar of stone right in front of him. Before she could even finish the move, another man dressed in flowing white robes spun in front of the thief, hands sliding out of his voluminous sleeves, one of them hooking the purse straps back out of the thief's grasp with two extended fingers, while the other one was brought to face the thief. Korra's eyes bulged as the man's hand slammed forward into the runner's chest like a piston and the simple blow sent the thief flying back through the air to land in front of her as a messy heap of aching and bruised flesh.

 

With a bow, the white-robed man presented the old lady her purse, smiling gently as she threw her arms around him in sobbing gratitude. A click and a flash reminded her of the reporters now stood at her back, crowding in for a photo of the scene, and she just wanted to get away as quickly as she can. She smiled, her hand lifted in greeting to the man. "Hi! That was really...something."

The man just bows his head slightly in reply. His voice was deep, reminding Korra of a thunderstorm echoing off the ice floes back home; powerful, but strangely melodious. "Not at all, Avatar Korra. I was simply doing what was right."

"Well, you did more than me," she replied with a grin.

Beneath the curves of his moustache, his mouth was a taut line carved in his worn, tanned face. "Indeed I did." His voice was projecting further, and she realised that he was talking just as much to the reporters crowding behind her in awed silence as he was to her, and the grin tightened tensely. "I acted as the moment dictated. In that instant, it was decided that I should deliver a symbol of what punishment awaits thieves, and that I should help another by my action, all without presuming to wield anything other than what nature has granted me."

 

"Nice ideal." She gritted her teeth, nodding to the crumpled man lying on the ground between them. "Wish nature had taught me how to do that to someone."

"Quite, Avatar Korra. Some, unfortunately, lack the ability to master such advanced arts. Others simply lack the merit." He smiled deeply for the first time, his head bowing low. "I leave the disposal of this...person...in your hands." His sleeves pulled apart, the hands concealed within drifting over each other like smoke. Together the fingers formed a rough circle, with each thumb interposed between the palm and thumb of its opposite, and Korra blinked at the unusual gesture. "May all your actions be harmony, Avatar."

"You're welcome," she grunted to his back as he turned and began to stride off. "I'll just...clean up after you," she muttered, annoyed at the man and the barrage of questions reporters began to fire off behind her.

**...**

"The more I think about it, the more I realise that that guy was one of the Children. All that stuff about harmony, and acting in the moment." Leant back against the headboard, Korra frowned up at the ceiling, still bitter over the encounter, letting Asami silently knead her fingers over her own.

"That symbol was a bit of a give-away, too."

She looked down at Asami in surprise. "Huh?"

"Think about it. His hands form a circle, with the thumbs protruding into the other hand's space." Asami looked at her, an eyebrow cocked questioningly. "The Taijitu, Korra!"

Her head hung in embarrassment for a moment as she groaned. "I can't believe it." She shook her head in disappointment. "And here I'm supposed to be Miss Spiritual."

Asami's lips stroked her cheek gently. "Well, you're allowed to be a bit dim sometimes, Korra," she said with a smile. "Come on. We'll sleep on it. You've still got that meeting with the President in the morning, remember?" Korra just huffed, sliding her head under the blanket, already not looking forward to the meeting that she'd been trying to forget about ever since heading to Zaofu. She didn't see Asami staring out through the open slats of the window at the night-sky, brow furrowed in thought.

 

* * *

 

"The President will see you now, Avatar." A tight smile appeared on her lips as Korra nodded to the secretary, pushing herself up from the wall she'd leant against. Ahead of her, the door was pushed open by a scarred brute dressed in a well-tailored brown suit that still seemed as if it was about to burst from the strain of containing the muscular frame within, his voice rumbling in greeting. "Avatar."

"Hey, Machu. How's it going?"

Shoulders rolled like an avalanche as his head tilted to the side. "Same old, Avatar. Word of warning, though." He looked down at her with yellow eyes. She'd never seen them look anything other than cold. She'd recognised the expression herself, just like how she'd looked every time she stopped to gaze at a mirror...back when she'd still been a walking wreck, desperate to escape it all. "She's not too happy about what happened yesterday at Central City."

Korra managed to stifle the instinctive groan, just. "So people know about that?"

Another shrug. "I think you need to take a look at the papers before you leave the house in future." His hand extended out, pointing the way in for her as if he were a gentleman's bellboy at the House of Varrick. _Breathe, Korra._ That kept repeating in her head as she entered the office. The new Republic Building, built on the far side of what was now known as Avatar Korra Park, had only finished construction a few months before, short enough for her to still feel unaccustomed to it all. Her eyes took in the sight of the vast glass window that looked out over the bay towards Air Temple Island and the statue of Avatar Aang fixed atop Memorial Island. She could just make out the shape of the arena, now enjoying the name of the Toza Legacy Arena. Had it really been two years since Toza had passed away in his sleep? She felt a twinge of guilt at the idea she'd forgotten about the grumpy pro-bender. He'd still been loved enough by the entire pro-bending community that they'd collectively chosen to rename the place. A discreet cough called her attention back, and she felt her skin heat up as she looked back to the reason why she was even there. "Madame President."

"Avatar Korra." Yin-Cui's voice was as dry as the sands of the desert, looking Korra over like a doctor over a patient while her fingers twirled a pencil daintily. "I don't suppose you know just how...glad...I am to see you right now?"

"I'd guess a 'slightly'," Korra grinned nervously.

Yin-Cui smiled like a sandshark. "Not one damn bit. Care to explain this?" Her other hand slapped a thick sheaf of newspapers onto the desk, most of them still damp from the presses.

 

"Ah."

"'Ah', is it? Would you care to define just what 'ah' means?" Yin-Cui's voice could have cracked glass right then, and she threw the first paper to Korra, watching as the younger woman scowled at the title beneath the name of _The Republic Reporter_ ; 'AVATAR TAUGHT HOW TO STOP A THIEF WITH STYLE!' with a photo underneath it of her with her back to the camera, the angle used to make it look like she was looking up to the stranger from the day before. "And then of course, there's this." Another paper followed, this one labelled the _Bay District Chronicle_ , 'KORRA CONFUZZLED BY CRIME-CRUSHING CHILD?' Yin-Cui bit her lip as she watched Korra read that one. "That's an example of why I think people need to take tests before they can become a reporter. Amazes me some people actually pay to read that brain-dribbling dross." She glowered at Korra across the desk. "Still, you know that I want to know what happened."

"I'd just got off the train and there were these reporter-"

"So? Reporters are ten a yuan in this place. You've known that for eight years."

Korra felt her confidence wither under the acidic tone dripping from the President's voice. "But there was this one reporter, and he just started accusing me of all these things! None of them were true but he didn't care, and it seemed like nobody else was realising that." Korra watched as the lined face in front of her stared back evenly.

"Boo-hoo." Yin-Cui started out of her chair, practically spitting her words out. "Welcome to life in the political arena, Avatar. It's a damn snakepit, and you've been here long enough to know that by now. For the love of Kyoshi, you're twenty-five! Not a little girl fresh off the polar bear dog!"

 

 _Breathe, Korra!_ Oh, she'd never been so glad for those calming techniques. "I don't think," she began with a calmness she could only barely feel inside, "that it's fair to blame me. I've never known a reporter hammer away like that, and that set me off-balance when this guy came in." Her finger tapped on the Reporter's front-page picture, and she watched the older woman's face turn stony.

"Hmm...figured it had to happen eventually."

"Uh...what had to?"

It was as Yin-Cui rocked back in her chair, her hands mopping over her lined face, that Korra felt the true nature of the woman's age hit her. The new President was older now than Raiko had been when he left office in disgrace, and the demands of the office had made her seem older than her actual sixty-two years of age. "It's my fault really," she sighed. "You know I've had the Republic Directorate of Information keeping tabs, shall we say, on areas and groups of interest?" The President waited for Korra to nod in understanding. "Well, one of those groups has been the Children of Wu Wei, for reasons that should be obvious to you." She tapped the picture with the pencil. "This man is Qiu Jiong, the leader of the Children. We don't know why he was in Republic City, and the Directorate only found out when someone spotted him heading back to Central City Station."

"What do you guys know then?" Korra leaned in, resting her forearms on the desk.

"Non-bender, from the Earth Kin-I mean, Earth Confederacy. Family are a mystery; we're not sure if he's an orphan or whether their records were wiped out in the Hou-Ting Revolt. We don't even know if he's had any military training, but he must do judging from what the Elemental Times had to say about what he did to the purse-snatcher." Yin-Cui flicked that paper over for Korra to read, watching the Avatar's face pale slightly as she read the extensive list of injuries inflicted with just a single palm-strike.

"Two broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, minor concussion, and sprains to a wrist and both ankles? How'd he even manage that?!"

"And that is why Mr Jiong is now wanted for interview by Republic City Police, purely to help detail the case against the thief of course. I've already asked Chief Saikhan to give it the highest priority."

 

"Glad to hear it."

"Yeah well, it doesn't matter now. Chances are he's back in the Confederacy already, and we can't hide our interest without making it look suspicious, so we probably won't see him for a while." Yin-Cui leaned back into the embrace of the creaking leather chair. "Let's get down to some real business. When you met Matriarch Suyin, what was her opinion on my proposal?"

Korra coughed gently. "She uh...said she doesn't care where in the hell you want to transfer Kuvira to, as long as it's nowhere near Zaofu."

"No trace of bitterness there, I see," Yin-Cui murmured. "Never could figure out those two. Still, I suppose Chief Saikhan will be glad to see Kuvira moved out of the city and to the White Lotus facility."

Korra sat up straighter in her own chair, tapping her fingers on the back of her other hand. "What did Fire Lord Izumi say about my idea?"

"She shot it down," was the sighing reply. "The Fire Lord is willing to host the facility in her nation, but she will not allow Fire Nation soldiers to join White Lotus guards inside the walls. She's made it perfectly clear that they want to maintain their neutrality relative to the other nations."

"I see." Korra grimaced before carrying on. "Makes sense she'd worry about how it looks, the Fire Nation imprisoning one of the most popular Earthbender leaders known in recent history."

"Exactly. Though...she did say she'd be happy to operate a guard force around the borders of the prison. Purely to keep an eye on those foreign, and thus suspicious, White Lotus people for the benefit of her subjects safety of course."

The younger woman groaned. "Why does it always seem like every other conversation with you is filled with double-talk? What happened to everyone getting along openly? It seems like half the time we only work together because people think we aren't!"

"Because it is, and the ones that aren't are," Yin-Cui's voice softened. "I know you're getting tired of hearing it, but the nature of politics and leadership in this day and age is that you have to be ready for people to question you at every turn. Remember the village of Chin, who argued that your predecessors were murderers? They forgot that Chin was a nasty piece of work, because nobody ever thought to point out otherwise. Well thanks to your direct predecessor and his friends, we now live in the age of this." Her arm lifted to point out the window. "An age where people have grown accustomed to knowing more, and learn so much that they forget to actually think about it. The more someone knows on a topic, the more they see the flaws, the places to criticise, the points of improvement, and the less they actually think about what it means before they start to question it all."

 

"And yet despite that, people have long memories. There's still some who can remember the end of the Hundred Years War, though they're dwindling by the day. What isn't dwindling is the story and suspicions they pass onto their families though. Heh, I could tell you some stories..." Her shoulders seemed to shrink, and she drooped back into her chair, eyes boring down at the paperwork covering her desk. "There's no point worrying about it now though. What's done is done." Yin-Cui's eyes looked back up, finding Korra's own. There was something unnerving about those brown orbs in an Earthbender, but Korra had never worked up the courage to ask about the President's ancestry. "I suppose we'll just have to roll with it for the next couple of days, and then they'll all forget."

"Just like that?" She asked, puzzlement on her face.

"Yes. Trust me, by next Monday they'll probably be doing pieces on General Iroh's son before he gets here." Yin-Cui looked up at her blank face. "Young Piandao's attending the Republic University. Pretty big step, since he'll be one of the first members of the Fire Nation's dynasty to be educated at any level outside of their own territory."

Her hand rubbed the back of her neck in an awkward reflex. "Huh, that is...actually pretty cool. Kind of amazed that Lord Zuko never did it earlier."

The President waved a hand airily. "Too much trouble to have sent his daughter out. Traditionalists wouldn't have accepted it, and chances are too many of the old Harmonists would have argued that it was a sign of 'Fire Nation imperialism'."

"I guess the general is free of that, since he managed to join the United Forces, and his son's not in direct succession to the throne, right?" She'd never even met the general's son, but Korra still felt happy for him. She remembered what it had been like to live in a gilded cage, even one that had been intended so well. "So...what else was on the agenda?"

"Just the Kuvira relocation, and then that mess yesterday. I don't suppose I could interest you in taking over the press conference scheduled with Crown Prince Wu next week? He's supposed to be coming back to the city to give a speech on promoting inter-state stability and commerce."

There was the slightest hesitation, Korra liked to think, before she replied to that idea exactly how she wanted to. "Er...no."

The older woman's lips pursed in what might, had Korra not doubted it with every fibre of her being, have been a smirk. "Well, if you won't do me that small mercy, do me the mercy of getting out of my office so I can actually get on with my work."

 

* * *

 

She knew she'd spent far more time than her wife would have approved thinking about it, but Asami couldn't help the itch she felt about what Korra had told her about the previous day's events. Oh, the reporters weren't a problem. News of what the Avatar had been sent to Zaofu for hadn't been made a secret, after all, and neither had the times she was expected to return, either. So a crowd of reporters, well, that was to be expected. No problem, like she'd already told herself. But the reporter Korra had mentioned had been throwing out the kind of questions that hadn't been asked since her earliest days in the city. Most of them had realised in the years since that she'd been trying the best she could do, and that perception had filtered through to most up-and-coming journos as the trade called them these days. That meant it was either someone new to the city...or someone with an agenda. The question was just who, then. Her thumb mashed the buzzer on her desk, looking up at her office door impatiently until her secretary opened it, diffidently pushing her head through the gap. "You called, Madame?"

Asami groaned as she cradled her head in her hands. "For spirit's sake, Yuqing, I'm not that old! Just call me Ms Sato, please."

The bespectacled young woman nodded in what at any other time Asami would have thought of as obsequiously charming, but right now it was just irritating. "My apologies, Ma-I mean, Ms Sato."

"Anyway, Yuqing, I need you to do something." Asami's eyes bored right through the staffer, her tone making the seriousness of the role clear. "Find someone from the public relations team, and have them gather a couple of staff members. Then have them go into the archive of newspapers we keep, and start searching for any articles in the last, say, year, that are at the very least unfavourable in their treatment of the Avatar."

"Can I ask why, M-"

"You may not." Her face softened slightly as she smiled at the thoroughly confused secretary. "It's not because I don't think you're good enough, it's because I want this kept a secret. Inform whoever you pick that once they've done that task, they're to compile the articles and bring them to me as soon as they're finished." She couldn't stifle the sigh as Yuqing closed the door hurriedly. Part of her knew that she shouldn't really be using the company's staff on something like this, something that wouldn't benefit the company. But...why not, another part asked. It was her company. Her name on the signage these days, her who'd revived the company through blow after blow until once again Future Industries had dominated the post-Kuviran landscape of Republic City. If Asami couldn't use her own company to help her _wife_ , what good was she? Still, even taking steps to try and figure out who the combative reporter was left one question for her. What had this Qiu character been doing in the city? She'd never paid that much attention to the stories about the Children, always leaving that to Korra and Tenzin who'd probably end up being the only ones to directly deal with them that she knew of.

 

Her pen flickered across a spare piece of paper. She always thought better with a chance to put down her ideas on paper, a legacy of her childhood as a mechanic and inventor. Very few people would pay that much attention to a group that was mostly based in the Earth Confederacy unless it was tangling with Republic interests. That, in Asami's considered opinion, was just another downside to the local journos. Half their interesting stories only came about because someone had drip-fed them with the information in the first place. Very few of them would actually have the initiative to look out for a group like the Children as a story, and even fewer could command a big enough audience to persuade their bosses...her red-hued lips curled into a smile. Of course. There was only one person in Republic City who'd have both the guts and the following to cover a story like that. _Muzo_. He was unique, in his own way. Like so many people, but uncommonly in his profession as a radio talk-host, he went by just his forename, a pointed reminder on his part of his origins in the lower classes of the city's population. She reached into a drawer for a flip-folder of press contacts, something she made sure to keep updated even though she rarely dealt with them herself these days, slender fingers dancing through the pages until she found the file she wanted. Her eyes stared out the view of her office over the city's Spirit Park without taking the view in, absorbed in listening to the ringing of the phone as she waited for someone to answer her. "Hello, you've reached the Heart of the City radio station, how can I help you?"

"Could you put me through to Muzo, please? Tell him it's Asami Sato."

"Oh, of course Ms Sato! Putting you through now." It still took a few seconds for another voice to appear and her patience to wear.

"Hello, this is Muzo."

' _Typical'_ , she thought. For all his talent as a talk-host, spirits knew he was an ass who thought more of himself than he really should have been doing, and pretending he didn't know who'd called for him by name was just one of the petty ways he showed it. "Muzo, it's Asami Sato. Remember me?"

The other voice chuckled in reply. "How could I forget you, Miss Sato? To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Asami began to twirl the phone cord around her finger idly. "Oh, you know, just thought I'd check in with my favourite newsman. Can't a girl do that from time to time?"

"Considering we haven't spoken together outside of Future Industries press-conferences since before the Earth Empire came about, I'd have to say...no?"

Asami shrugged, forgetting he wasn't there to see it. "Fine, down to business then. I hear that you had the leader of the Children of Wu Wei over in your office yesterday. I would like to know what it was about."

Muzo's voice crackled over the line. "Sorry Asami, you know I'm not allowed to divulge private information."

"Really? Because I know that that only applies when you're dealing with a source. So either you're doing a story with him, or you're lying. Do you want me to guess which one I think it is?"

"Or it could be the case that a friend came to visit me and we spent our time reminiscing fondly while drinking ginseng tea."

Her voice became clipped. "Sarcasm doesn't become you, Muzo."

"Nor you, Asami. You really want to know what happened? Turn on your radio tomorrow, one o'clock on the dot." The phone cut off into silence.

She glared at it. "Ass."

 

* * *

 

"Do I have to fire the chef?"

Asami's head nodded up from her plate in surprise, seeing Korra's eyes locked onto hers before she glanced back down with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, sweetheart." Korra had, she liked to think, turned herself into a half-decent cook thanks to Pema's guidance, so she'd figured that wasn't why Asami was picking away at her food.

Her wife just looked worried. "Is it something I can help with? Maybe," her voice dropped huskily, "you need to relax. I hear the chef here gives great massages." A salacious wink proclaimed just what kind of massage she had in mind, and Asami stifled a laugh.

"No, just tired from work. One of the people I hired away from Varrick some time ago came up with this idea and his manager wanted a meeting about it."

"Oh, what was it?" Korra's eyes narrowed. "It's not an idea for a mover is it? Because I'm still refusing to do those 'Legend of Korra' movers Varrick suggested."

Asami plucked a slice of elephant koi from the bowl between her chopsticks, eating it slowly. She'd hoped to avoid this discussion, but if Korra knew the topic was something that had bothered her, her wife wouldn't stop until Asami had got it off her chest. Sometimes Korra's concern for others could be just a tad too blunt for Asami, and she wished that now hadn't been one of them. "Not...really. It's to do with movers, but not about them."

Korra looked up, lips still slurping up the last of her noodles. "Well, you going to just leave me hanging?" She'd set her bowl down, reaching for one of the tigerprawn dumplings she'd made as a side, biting into the rich meat, her jaw freezing in shock as Asami replied.

"It was about blasting jelly. More specifically, how to use it as bombs to be dropped from an airship." Asami set down her own chopsticks, cradling her head in her hands. "And while he was talking about it, all I could think 'why?', why would you want to develop something that makes killing people easier?" As she looked back up to meet Korra's gaze, tears began to slide down her high-framed cheekbones. "Haven't we had enough of that already? Wasn't Kuvira's cannon enough? So what if they're not as powerful, there'd be so many more of them and all I imagine is just who it'd kill. What does it say about me that he thought I'd agree?" She collapsed in her chair, sinking gratefully into her wife's arms as Korra bounded up and out of her chair and around the table to embrace her.

 

"Shush...shush..." she cooed softly. "It's okay. I know you better than that. Sounds like that jerk didn't, though."

"No, he didn't," cried Asami. "But he knows me as the daughter of Hiroshi Sato, and as soon as he realised that he thought 'she'll agree'. Is that the legacy I want to leave behind? The one that I want to live under? 'The Sato's, merchants of death'?"

Korra nuzzled Asami's long hair. "You know that's not fair on yourself. You're so much more than that. You're the person who's company practically rebuilt the entire city. You're the person who showed that any non-bender is just as good as a bender." Her hands slowly clasped the sides of her wife's face, gently tilting it up to look at her. "You're Asami Sato. You're not your father." Fingers stroked away at the porcelain-like skin beneath them. " _Asami_. That's who you are, and that's who I love." Her lips gently pressed atop Asami's brow, and she could feel her wife's shakes lessen as she absorbed Korra's words.

"I know...but at the same time, my dad will always be Hiroshi the Equalist. The murderer. The terrorist." Her hand clutched Korra's muscled arm tightly. "He'll never be Hiroshi, the man who helped design the Hummingbird. Hiroshi, the man who helped open up the Colossus." Those sorrowful brown eyes burned as they looked up to Korra. "He'll never be Hiroshi, the man who died to let his daughter live."

Korra planted another kiss on Asami's hair. "Just because they haven't realised doesn't change one thing, 'sami. You and me and all the others who were there know that he did. That's the important thing." She curled an arm beneath her wife's legs, cradling her like a child before she pushed upwards from where she'd knelt. "Come on. I think we both need our sleep, hmm?"

 

* * *

 

 

Asami hadn't said much that morning, just sipping at a cup of tea long gone cold while she made notes on her 'homework' as she called it, at least in polite company; the minutia of running what was the single largest company in the entire United Republic was more than enough to prevent her from being able to just leave it all in the office. Still, it was worth putting up with in Korra's opinion. She spent as much time as being a diplomat these days as she had done fighting off the bad guys or being a pro-bender, back when she'd first stowed aboard that ship to the Republic. A chance to just sit down with her wife and unwind in the privacy of their own home was something far too rare for her liking, even, Korra knew, if she knew that it couldn't be any other way. She'd picked up a book to pass the time quietly, not wanting to disturb Asami, just something she could do and be around without distracting her. It wasn't one of hers, she'd never been inclined to reading a lot, but Asami had picked up dozens of the things over the years, and yet more from her father's collection after he'd been imprisoned. Still, it was interesting enough, and she turned the page just in time to catch Asami yawn and stretch her arms up. "Eurgh. I don't know why Varrick keeps sending me ideas for collaboration between us." She flicked the paper in question off the desk with a grimace.

Korra smirked over the top of the book, eyes still scanning the page. "Because you're Republic City's resident genius and the owner of the biggest company? I mean, that's just in my humble Avatar opinion."

Asami smiled back at her. "And of course, you've got no bias in that at all."

Blue eyes rolled at her as Korra's mouth opened into a look of pure astonishment. " _Me_? Spirits no! Perish the thought!"

Her smile turned into a giggle. "Keep at it Korra, maybe people will believe it if you keep practising that line." She leaned back into her chair, sighing with an edge of contentment. She'd made a good dent in the pile, enough that she could put off the rest until the evening now. Her face pointed at the ceiling as she lay there, Asami's eyes flicked down past her cheeks, "What's that you're reading?"

"Er..." her wife had to flip the book over to check the title, "Tales From Ba Sing Se. It's really good."

"Ah," Asami smiled. "I used to love reading that, even if it was so sad."

"What? No it's not! I'm just finishing the bit where this guy gets himself thrown out of a haiku competition, it's funny."

"It might seem it, but each one of the stories has a different lesson underneath. Take the story of the Firelight Fountain. She meets the perfect boy, he's mysterious, and handsome, and brave. They both really like each other, but one day the boy has to leave to fulfil his destiny, and they never see each other again. It's a story about learning to let go of what, or who, you love, because you won't have them forever."

Korra scoffed, "Oh come on, even I think that one's sad. But you can't say the entire book is, just because of that." She shrank down into the cushions. "Besides, that is just a depressing idea."

A quirked eyebrow met her reply. "Really? Because that must explain why you were crying all night at the end of that one."

 

A gust of air rushed at her, fluffing her neat hair up. Even as Asami blew an errant strand that fell down her face, she could hear Korra laughing, just barely choking out her words through it. "We agreed never to bring that up again!"

"No, that was never to mention it to anyone else, not that I couldn't bring it up in private."

Korra looked up at it, squinting her eyes and growling comically. "I am altering the deal, Sato."

Now it was Asami's turn to laugh. "What was that supposed to be?"

"Chin the Conqueror. I have this vague impression of him saying something like that."

"Well then...if I've broken the deal according to you, I guess it doesn't matter if I ring, say, Bolin and tell him you cried after reading Firelight Fountain."

Korra snapped upright, dropping the book, her face a horrified mask. "Don't you dare!"

Asami was already walking towards the telephone, looking back over her shoulder. "Ooh, maybe I'll phone Tenzin instead. I'm sure he'll be telling the kids about it, and you know what a loud-mouth Meelo is." She watched as her wife scrambled off the couch, her face blanched and a raised finger quivering as she pointed at Asami.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It. I'm serious Asami!"

"So am I," she said in a sing-song voice, her hand on the receiver, only to drop it as she felt fingers digging into her waist, forcing her to laugh. "Oh, no, don't you dare Korra!" She howled as they dug in again, scrabbling up and down the silk of her shirt, and kicked back, hooking her legs around Korra's to overbalance her. They toppled onto the wooden floor with an oof, Asami managing to roll over and pin Korra to the floor, her wife's muscular arms splayed out to the side. Now her fingers dug into the soft underside of those toned brown limbs, watching the normally composed Avatar laugh like a hyena-monkey. "I told you not to do it, Korra!" she said as she laughed in turn with her wife.

Suddenly those arms grabbed her by the shoulders, the younger woman managing to roll them both over with ease until she was on top, looking down at Asami, leaning in until their lips almost touched. "Asami..."

"Yes?" her wife breathed heavily, her green eyes smouldering at her.

Whatever it was she expected, it wasn't Korra suddenly pulling the same 'Chin the Conqueror' expression. "Pray I do not alter the deal further, Sato." The two stared at each other for a moment before they both broke out into laughter.

"I don't know," Asami murmured. "If we end up like this, I think we can manage an alteration or three." Her lips met Korra's, the couple melting into each other's embrace. After what seemed like an hour rather than mere seconds, they broke apart, Asami running her tongue over her lip. "You know, I think I hear the bed calling for us."

"Huh... _oh_...yeah, I think I can hear it to-" The sound of the phone broke them apart, Korra's head falling into Asami's shoulder with a moan. "Worst timing ever."

"Come on. We both know whoever it is won't be ringing without a good reason. I mean, they wouldn't want to provoke the wrath of Chin reborn, right?" Asami blew a rasp at her with a smile.

 

"Ugh, fine." Korra dragged herself upright, pulling the phone off its cradle roughly. "Hey, this is Korra."

"Korra? It's Tenzin."

"Oh, hey Tenzin! What's up?" She felt Asami push herself off the floor, her hand gripping Korra's shoulder as a boost and she stuck her tongue out at her wife.

"Have you been listening to the radio?" His voice sounded strained, and Korra frowned at the phone.

"No, why?"

"You need to put it on right now, Heart of the City station. You need to listen to it!"

"Oka-" the sudden silence cut her off, leaving her to raise her eyebrows in surprise as she turned back to her wife. "Okay, so Tenzin just sounded totally freaked."

By then Asami was at her desk, a sinking feeling in her gut. "Why's that?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Korra pushed herself off the floor. "I dunno, he just said put the radio on Heart of the City. Didn't even say why." She didn't see the way her wife's already pale skin whitened even further as her eyes found the clock adorning the wall, watching the hands point to just a whisker past one o'clock.

Asami blinked nervously. How could she have forgotten after all the trouble she'd gone to? "Here," she muttered, "I'll get it." Korra settled back down on the couch, already reaching down for Tales From Ba Sing Se, not noticing the way she'd begun to nibble on a nail as she heard the familiar opening bars of Muzo's chat-show segment.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen, you're listening to Muzo's Musings at one o'clock here on Heart of the City, the beat to the city's life! Just to reiterate for those who've just tuned in, I've got a very special story today, though sadly because of prior constraints it is a recorded session from some time ago." Korra was staring at the radio with a quizzical expression by now. Just like books, radio was, unless it was strictly a music-station, something she didn't really bother with, but even she knew that pre-recorded chat-shows weren't that usual. Muzo's voice crinkled with excitement, and not a little gloating. "Today, I can announce that I managed to conduct an exclusive, world-first interview with none other than the man behind the mysterious group known to us all as the 'Children of Wu Wei', and I hope you all enjoy it." The radio crackled, no doubt from Muzo cutting to the record.

**...**

"Hello everyone, this is Muzo, and I'm here with a very special guest! If you'd be so kind as to introduce yourself, please?"

A different voice spoke this time, poised and quieter than Muzo's. "Of course. I am Qiu Jiong, and I have the pleasure of leading my fellow associates in the Children of Wu Wei."

"So Mr Jiong, if you don't mind my asking, what is it that you wanted to talk about on today's show?"

"Please, call me Qiu," the voice said in a tone that could have passed for joviality to anyone who couldn't read the cold edge in it, "and I am here to help spread the truth about the Children."

"Well then, Qiu, let's start off with some of the basics for our audience at home. Suppose we start way, way back. When did the Children of Wu Wei originally come about?"

"Our origins are rather recent, historically speaking. Our way of thought has its antecedents going back many centuries in fact, but we did not gather together in formal association until some six years ago."

"So that's actually a bit older than most people think, at least here in Republic City. Do you think that's down to the fact that the Children have largely kept to Confederacy territory, or because, as some have claimed before now, that you've been trying to keep a low profile?"

"Well, and I do not say this maliciously, it would seem that for the average Republic City listener out there, why should they care about us? I do not keep up with day-to-day news from the Fire Nation, just as I am sure that many citizens of that land don't pay attention to day-to-day news from the Water Tribes, and even today many people care about their own local issues more than the local issues of far-off places that they'll most likely never visit."

"I see, I see...that's a good point in fairness. Now, not to belabour that topic, but this is the question that's on a lot of of people's lips right now, and most certainly in the minds of many of the viewers at home; what is it that the Children of Wu Wei represent, exactly? We're all aware that there's been incidents involving members of your group holding rallies to protest some of the choices made by Avatar Korra."

"Well Muzo, this matter reaches to the heart of the Children. The world historically has been four nations, represented by the elements that dominate each one. Stretching back to the ancients of ten-thousand years ago, we have isolated ourselves, identified ourselves, by those elements, such as yourself being one of the Earth Confederacy. For hundreds of years we lived according to the principle of equal, yet separate, and that served us all well. We learned to change and adapt with the times, a harmonious balance between human ingenuity and the natural order of the world. In doing so, we allowed ourselves to live as the universe dictated, in that perfect cycle of change after change."

 

"So how is it that members of your group are finding these reasons to protest? If I'm not mistaken, there was an incident in the town of Ouha after the Avatar went to intervene in a fishing dispute there. Is that _really_ the kind of thing to find fault with?"

"The Avatars have proclaimed themselves as serving 'balance'. In our belief, this was something already performed by the separation of the elements and the harmony that we adopted. By wielding all of them together, the Avatar is not serving balance. Instead they tower over any master of the four elements with their power, and as history shows, every Avatar has had very little compunction in using those powers to force their vision of 'balance' upon others, be that splitting the very earth apart or taking the territory of different nations and forging a state that represents the same ideology that the Avatar follows," a dry laugh followed, "or telling the inhabitants of two towns who has the better right to claim more fish than the other."

"But surely the Avatar resolving that dispute is something to be lauded?"

"Is it? Those towns, Ouha and Liaoning, have co-existed for nearly two centuries, with Ouha's surplus in fish often being sold to their neighbour, in exchange for timber to construct their own fishing trawlers. There was already a balance there. The only reason they were in dispute is because Liaoning's main food source in the nearby valley was driven away, thanks to the Republic's own Future Industries cutting through that land for the Confederacy's new railway network."

"Surely the railway network makes up for that by improving the lives of the people from the area?"

The Child's voice turned sour. "It may be so, but that does not change the fact that the Avatar did not give the people of Ouha or Liaoning the chance to resolve it themselves. Both towns were still well-supplied with their main exports, and Ouha could have simply increased the quantities they exported. The people of Liaoning would be fed well enough to make up any deficit in their main food supplies, Ouha would then be able to purchase more timber to produce their trawlers so they can supply that fish to Liaoning. Yes, it would have been a change from what exactly came before, but life is constant change. Instead, the Avatar chose to break this and ordered the people of Ouha to give up part of their livelihood, while instructing the people of Liaoning to build their own boats. Where once these peoples lived in co-operation, now they are at odds, both quarrelling over how much wood each town can cut down, and how much fish can be taken by the fishermen. Where once was harmony, the Avatar has brought disharmony."

A gentle cough presaged the interviewer's reply. "Ordered is a pretty strong word, don't you think?"

There it was again, that laconic drawl that had made Korra wince to hear that very morning. "Not at all. Who would oppose the Avatar? One, who it must be said, has shown herself to rely on force to resolve many issues."

Muzo sounded disbelieving. "And you believe that the Children can do better? Play a greater role in restoring true balance to the world? Surely that's a pretty hefty overreach?"

Another of those dry chuckles answered him. "From the smallest nut grows the mightiest oak-tree. We do not propose to make sweeping changes to the world with a moment's notice, as others have attempted. We will work from humble beginnings. Whether we succeed or not is up to fate. But we are confident that we can succeed in helping others."

"And just how do you intend to do that?"

"Well, Muzo, now we arrive at the real meaning for my request to come here. I am here to announce that the Children of Wu Wei will be standing as a party in the forthcoming Omashu City Council elections held next week."

"Wow...that's a big step, isn't it?"

Gone was the coldness when Jiong had talked about the Avatar, replaced instead with an eerie eagerness. "Not at all! Omashu is a city with a rich history of mistreatment at the hands of the deceased Queen Hou-Ting, and the former 'Great Uniter'. We believe that we are the ones best-placed to help this once great city recover its former glory."

**...**

The record cut off, replaced with Muzo's voice announcing another inane commercial break, and Asami's hands relaxed the death-grip they'd held on the back of the chair as she glanced nervously at Korra, wondering what was going through her mind. Korra had become far better at hiding her feelings inside, and Asami had spent far too much time trying to pry open Korra's soul to help the woman she loved. At least this time she'd still managed to bite back the questions she wanted to ask her wife, how she felt listening to the recording, what she thought about the digs Qiu Jiong had made at past Avatars...whether she was simply _okay_... when her wife looked up from the book she'd been staring at listlessly. Korra's mouth knitted into a frown, chewing the inside of her cheek in thought. "Well," she said tightly, "that's not good."

"Yeah..." Asami smiled tautly. "Not one bit."

**Author's Note:**

> So, I figured I'd take a swing at trying to write a post-ending sequel for Legend of Korra. I think I should apologise if anyone feels that there's a few spots where it seems stiff and awkward, and I ask that people aren't shy about pointing out any errors I may have missed despite my editing.
> 
> At the same time, I also hope that people enjoy the bounty of original characters that will be in the story and don't think they out of place. I'm hoping that this is just the first of many chapters ahead, and that you all enjoy reading it as much as I am writing it!
> 
> P.S. I make no apologies for the swath of metareferences.


End file.
